The Shield - The Complete Series Collection DVD Review

A terrific series gets a worthy collection.

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November 6, 2009

It's easy to forget how revolutionary The Shield was when it began. We'd seen (and continue to see) countless police dramas on television, of course, and plenty of them have dealt with the idea of the rogue cop – the one willing to go a bit farther and a bit darker than the rest, to get the job done. When I first heard about The Shield, I saw the ads and thought little of it except a dismissive, "Oh, how exciting. Another cop 'who doesn't play by the rules.'"

The conclusion to the pilot of The Shield proved series creator Shawn Ryan was throwing down the gauntlet – letting you know right from the start that Vic Mackey was far more than just an "edgy" cop, but rather someone who was capable of truly evil acts. And he was going to be the focal point for this extremely intense, gritty series and the incredible ride it took its audience on for seven seasons.

But to simply describe Vic as evil is to overlook what an amazingly complicated, layered character he was. I firmly stood on the side of those who felt Vic had to pay for his crimes – one half of a debate that lit up many a Shield message board. But I understood those who felt differently. Vic was a fully realized character, one capable of great compassion and caring, and who truly wanted to do some good (and often did). But he also was someone who had become extremely corrupted, and who was capable of the most incredible justifications for the horrible things he often did. An amazing performance from Michael Chiklis solidified Vic as one of the greatest TV characters of all time – love him or hate him, you couldn't take your eyes off him.

The great supporting cast gave life to those surrounding Vic, the cops who worked with him in The Barn – some of whom were close allies and some who viewed him with great distrust, bordering on disgust. CCH Pounder was terrific as Claudette Wyms – in her own way, a character as fierce as Mackey, but one filled with a sense of morality and righteousness Vic couldn't match. Claudette's partnership with The Barn's skilled but dorky Holland "Dutch" Wagenbach (Jay Karnes) was one of the most inspired and unique pairings I've ever seen, not following any of the obvious paradigms other series use when it comes to the male/female crime fighting duo.

At the center of it all was Vic and his Strike Team, all of whom had become dirty cops – albeit to varying degrees. We got to know each of these men better and better throughout the series. Kenny Johnson was perfectly cast as the most kind and caring member of the Strike Team, Lem. For much of the series, David Rees Snell was underused as Ronnie Gardocki, but the last couple of seasons deftly made use of his portrayal as the quiet workhorse of the team, as we saw more of what made Ronnie tick.

Extra praise has to go to Walton Goggins, who was so fascinating as Shane Vendrell – the character who most mirrored Vic. Casually racist and sexist and prone to bad decisions, Shane was rarely capable of putting on the kind and caring face Vic could. But we grew to learn so much about who Shane was – what he began as, who he was now, and what motivated him. By the end, his story was clearly just as pivotal as Vic's, and Goggins did amazing work in the final season of the show.

The Shield wasn't perfect. There was a period around Season 3 where the show seemed to be a bit too caught up in its own ability to shock. Several of the show's most audacious, memorable and grimly captivating moments occurred during this period, including a horrifying sexual assault on a main character; two vicious face burnings; and a stunning act of violence towards an animal by another of the regulars. By themselves these were captivating TV sequences (if you could dare to keep looking at the screen), but coming so close together, they became a bit much after awhile.

The show also probably went on a bit longer than it needed to. The phenomenal Season 5 of the series – anchored by the amazing showdown between Internal Affairs agent Jon Kavanaugh (Forest Whitaker) and Mackey – ended on one of the most memorable and jaw-dropping moments in TV history... an event that clearly signaled the end was coming and it wouldn't be pretty. That being the case, the decision to extend the show another two seasons made Season 6 unfortunately feel like a pseudo pause in the action, derailing some of the momentum coming out of Season 5. The later seasons also sidelined some characters, including Officers Julien Lowe (Michael Jace) and Danni Sofer (Catherine Dent), whose previously large roles felt very diminished. And once Mackey's initial nemesis, David Aceveda (Benito Martinez) left The Barn, his presence was never quite as impactful.

Those issues can be forgiven though, as Ryan and his collaborators delivered one hell of a final season, which was capped off by a terrific final two episodes that brought Vic's story to a fitting end – one that might not have been the perfect one for every single viewer (what could be?), but left us all a lot to chew on, and in my mind, simply felt right.

The Shield always felt a bit bigger than life, and this feeling increased as the series went on and the events grew darker and more outrageous. But after things calmed down from the free for all going on around Season 3, Ryan found the appropriate rhythm for the show. There were plenty of great moments simply made up of excellent dialogue and character interaction – only for one of the show's more shocking, outrageous moments to suddenly occur. It ultimately felt like something truly Shakespearean. Every move the Strike Team made was setting them on a course towards what was likely a dark, tragic fate, and it was nerve wracking, thrilling and oh-so riveting watching it all unfold.

Score: 9 out of 10

Video and Presentation

The first five seasons of The Shield were originally put on DVD by 20th Century Fox, and presented in the 4:3 aspect ratio in which they were aired. A second round of DVDs from Sony -- who also put out Season 6, 7 and this complete series set -- instead had the episodes in 16:9 aspect ratio, which is how all the episodes are presented here.

The main thing to remember is that the grainy, gritty visuals you're seeing are very much intentional. The Shield was shot with hand held cameras, evoking a documentary, fly on the wall feel, and wasn't meant to look pretty or cinematic. The show always looked (literally) a bit darker and muddier than others on TV, and this is the case with the DVD. Fans should also note that creator Ryan has said Sony has decided the show's 16mm source material is of "insufficient quality to put out on Blu-ray" (though others have argued that other 16mm films and series have been put on Blu-ray).

Leaving that debate aside, keep in mind this is a good transfer of a show that was never intended to look clear and pristine. Watching the dark events unfold on screen, the grainy imagery feels completely appropriate.

Score: 6 out of 10

Languages and Audio

The Shield features a simple Dolby 2.0 stereo audio track. Like the video, the intention was to feel documentary like and sound like real events, not perfectly mixed, sound system blasting audio. So again, you can't fault the technical aspects here for simply getting the job done in the way the creators intended. The dialogue is clear and distinct, and not drowned out by the various doors being broken down and other violent acts that occur through the series.

Score: 7 out of 10

Extras and Packaging

First off, I have to talk about how awesome the packaging is on this set. The Shield comes in a large book, whose pages are made up of recreations of photos, memos and newspaper articles from within the world of the series. Fans will recognize some important quotes and moments referenced throughout. It looks terrific, and the discs (two per page, placed next to each other) are purposely hidden – only slightly visible at the top of each page, as to not disrupt the imagery, with the episode descriptions looking like case files from The Barn.

The one caveat is that I found some of the discs to be somewhat difficult to pull out – and there is a danger of minor scratching. In fact, Sony has offered an exchange program for anyone who reports scratched discs in the set. Hopefully this is not a widespread issue, because wow, this set sure looks amazing.

As for the extras, all the extras that were on the season sets are retained here, which means you have a ton of featurettes and commentaries. Of course, many fans might already have had the previous season sets, so let's focus on the brand new bonus disc and what it contains.

There are two new featurettes on this disc. The main one is "Rampart," which is essentially a half hour documentary about the real life police scandal that influenced The Shield. Ryan appears briefly at the beginning, discussing how the stories he was reading led to the series, but most of "Rampart" involves interviews with real life locals, law enforcement officials and journalists connected either to the scandal or the area it took place in. It's very interesting material – a mention of what happened to one of the cops involved, who some would say was one of the worst of the bunch, definitely has some interesting echoes to Vic and how things turned out for him.

The other featurette, "The Barn," is much shorter, running around seven and a half minutes. It is a look at the dismantling of the set of The Shield. After a couple of minutes of brief interview footage, this piece mainly consists of footage of the sets as they are being taken down. It's effective imagery for any Shield fan, though it actually felt like it could have been trimmed by a minute or two.

Note that the packaging alone is bumping this score up a couple of points. It's that cool.

The Verdict

When reviewing a complete series set, I try to weigh how worthwhile it is for the fan who already bought the season sets to once more buy these episodes. Here you have the very good "Rampart" documentary, plus some really beautiful packaging that makes the set feel like a true collectible. Factor in that many likely had the first DVDs of the Seasons 1-5 (which weren't in 16:9) and there's plenty of reasons for Shield fans to want to trade in their old sets and pick up this great collection of a truly seminal series.